A Taxonomy of Knowledge Types for Use in Curriculum Design

This article proposes the use of a taxonomy to help curriculum planners distinguish between different kinds of knowledge. Nine categories are suggested: empirical, rational, conventional, conceptual, cognitive process skills, psychomotor, affective, narrative, and received. Analyzing lessons into the sources of their resident knowledge helps the teacher proceed in a less dogmatic manner, distinguishing between categories of knowledge based upon where that knowledge originates. This taxonomy facilitates a meta-narrative on the nature of knowledge — how it is discovered, invented, decided upon, and so on — and the form that it takes in human experience and learning.